Category: Beginning of the Year

Being in a New World Language Class is like a TRIP 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, My Philosophy, Uncategorized1 Comment

While traveling this summer in Rome, Italy I had an “AHA Moment:” the student experience in my world language classroom is like a trip in a big city that is foreign to someone. Let’s delve into this crazy metaphor that I thought about while walking through the “_________” neighborhood in search of a market that bears that same name (umm, I cannot remember its name for the life of me as I am writing this), and frankly that is perfect because it really makes this metaphor even better. Here are my 10 reasons why I am making this claim.

Spanish II 2022-23 Reflection

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Beginning of the Year, Curriculum, My Philosophy, Semester Reflection, Spanish II, Teaching Strategies5 Comments

Teaching Spanish II is always a test of endurance, patience, and satisfaction watching students grow from novice levels of Spanish to intermediate levels for most. This year I taught three sections of Spanish II, which have a mix of students with most 9th graders having had Spanish since elementary school and then daily in 6th, …

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Summer Series Reflections 2023

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, My Philosophy, Semester Reflection, Uncategorized1 Comment

-PLEASE FOLLOW AND SUBSCRIBE to my blog so you will receive an email when I post. My goal is to add 20 new subscribers for each of these summer posts. Please help me reach my goal.  -CONTEST: Remember in almost all of my posts I have included musical theater references. At this point, I have no idea which references I have included on each post. So the contest is to add a comment on 5 different Blog posts with your guess of the musical theater show tune reference (of the 5, it can only include 2 of the ones that I am posting this month). The first person, who has also FOLLOWEDSUBSCRIBED to my blog, to add 5 comments with the correct musical references will win a $25. Amazon Gift Card. My musical theater fans, if you are going to read the posts, why not read with a purpose?

Some Food for Thought from April 2023 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, My Philosophy1 Comment

Written April, 16 2023  This was a post I wrote on Facebook that I feel should be on my Blog too. (No musical theatre references). This was a commentary I had after reading an opinion piece on April 16, 2023.  I just wanted to post about what a joy it was to present with my …

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Reflection 2021-22 Spanish Level IV

On By GaryDibiancaIn AP World Language, Beginning of the Year, Curriculum, My Philosophy, Semester Reflection, Spanish IV, Teaching Strategies, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My final post from this reflection series is about my 2021-22 year in Spanish IV with my intermediate students. The post talks about the Ohio Seal of Biliteracy, using student data, developing thought, my core classroom values, discussion days, honing communication based on novice topics, and finding a happy balance. Thanks for reading. Gary

MASTERY LEARNING using High-Frequency Verb Quizzes 

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Curriculum, My Philosophy, Semester Reflection, Teaching Strategies, Uncategorized5 Comments

The 2021-22 school year provided me a chance to try out ideas with MASTERY LEARNING and a policy about retaking assessments until an 80% average was reached. I used this idea consistently throughout the whole year with both my Spanish II and IV classes, and I am very pleased with the results. One of the …

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Free Story-Scripts, Question Randomizers, and COMPREHENDED! 2021

On By GaryDibiancaIn Beginning of the Year, CurriculumLeave a comment

I cannot believe it has been a year since last year‘s Comprehensible Online Conference, now known as Comprehended, launched. It was pre-pandemic and none of us thought our lives nor our schools would look the way they currently do.Last year for my online webinar for the conference, I shared six story asking scripts that can …

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Nothing Is as Revolutionary Here as Hamilton, But These Four Things Are Making My Virtual Classes Work (So Far)

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Teaching Strategies, UncategorizedLeave a comment

As teachers in 2020, we are all learning a new normal - whether it is 100% virtual teaching or a hybrid model, all changing how we interact with students and our subject matter. In my environment, I am teaching Spanish remotely from home with my students “zooming in” three times a week. And even though …

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Webinar Online Now: Keeping CI Simple for Students

On By GaryDibiancaIn Assessments, Beginning of the Year, Classroom Routines, Teaching StrategiesLeave a comment

As the end of Quarter 1 is around the corner, I wanted to post this webinar that I did for Teacher’s Discovery last month on Facebook Live. For this webinar I wanted to focus on Simple CI in the classroom. I always have to remind myself how challenging it might be for students to focus …

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